A device generally needs to be upgraded while being manufactured, used or repaired. If all devices are upgraded manually one by one, the upgrade is almost impossible when the number of devices to be upgraded is enormous. For example, it is impossible to manually upgrade the devices stored in the warehouse or a large batch of devices under repair. Therefore, a device upgrade method that upgrades devices in large batches is required.
Multicast is a new technology that transfers data from one point to multiple points. If the multicast technology is applied to device upgrade, batch upgrade of devices may come true. When the devices are upgraded in batches through the multicast technology, a multicast server keeps multicasting a mirror file intended for upgrading devices, and the devices to be upgraded receive the mirror file from the multicast server after being powered on, and are upgraded successfully after the mirror file is validated. In this way, a large batch of devices can be upgraded as long as the multicast server keeps multicasting the mirror file for upgrade cyclically.
In the process of upgrading devices in batches, the multicast server keeps multicasting the mirror file for upgrade cyclically, and multicasts the mirror file in segments at specified intervals. While multicasting the packet of the mirror file, the multicast server multicasts the version information of the mirror file at intervals. The device to be upgraded knows whether the device needs to be upgraded by using the multicast mirror file only after receiving the version information.
In the process of implementing the present invention, the inventor finds that the multicast server in the conventional art has to keep multicasting the mirror file for upgrade cyclically when upgrading devices in batches. If the multicast server multicasts a single mirror file cyclically, only the devices of a single system can be upgraded; if the multicast server multicasts multiple mirror files cyclically, it takes too much time to upgrade the devices no matter whether the multicast server multicasts multiple mirror files alternately or multicasts a mirror file cyclically repeatedly and then multicasts the remaining mirror files. Therefore, the conventional art makes it difficult to upgrade a multi-system or multi-module device through multicast.